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old lady and had been led to think her niece's daughter might come to live with her after she graduated from grammer school. But she had been put off by one pretext or another until Aunt Marian sometimes wondered if Anna- belle really had a child. Now she knew it was even worse- the child was a boy. Aunt Marian despised boys--they were even worse than men and she had despised men all her life. She also despised Butch because he was a male in spite of his awkward and rather comical efforts to imper- sonate a girl. He too was in cahoots with his parents in trying to deceive her. Because it was Butch who was the actual deception her wrath concentrated upon him and she longed to ger her hands on him and make him pay for it all.

She evolved a plan whereby she mig:.t get revenge upc the whole family. She asked if the folks had been serious about little Mariaon being sent to live with her awhile. Mr. and Mrs. Brown hemmed and hawed but being backed into a corner said yes of course that had been their plan. If that were the case, Aunt Marian said why couldnt the little dear go back with her now as that was actually the reason for her coming.

The Browns were in a panic. They tried every way they could think of short of disclosing Marion's real sex to dissuade Aunt Marian from her desire, but nothing stopped the gaunt old lady....she broke down every argu- ment and added subtle threats of collecting what was owed to her if thy continued to go back on their promises. The Browns didn't know what to do, they had to say yes but they knew that the jig would be up if she ever discovered Butch's real sex. They wondered if he could continue to deceive her as he had been apparently doing so success- fully so far.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown went into a serious huddle with the boy, explaining all night the seriousness of the situation. They made it clear to Butch that it meant financial ruin for them if Aunt Marian was displeased, and it meant no college for Butch--even that he might be lucky to be able to finish